VICTORIA — When Premier Christy Clark addressed local government leaders at their annual convention in Vancouver last week, she couldn’t resist a joke about how things had changed since she spoke to them to them a year ago.

“Let me start by congratulating Rhona Martin,” she said, referencing the newly chosen president of the Union of B.C. Municipalities. Martin hails from Sicamous which is, as Clark put it, just up the road from “the newly minted capital of B.C. — Kelowna.”

Very funny premier.

The west side of Vancouver rejected Clark as its MLA. But the folks in Westside-Kelowna were happy to have a premier representing them in the legislature, as was the case for most of 35 years with two premiers named Bennett.

The dig was doubly deep for my hometown, Victoria. Still the capital on paper, but the region marginalized itself government-wise by electing no Liberals whatsoever.

In the wake of those and other election results, Victoria and Vancouver became bit players at the cabinet table, relatively speaking. The most powerful ministries are now distributed to places like Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, Kootenay East, Kamloops, the Okanagan and Prince George.

The premier also underscored the importance of those local government leaders who had rallied to her government, rattling off the names of 21 current Liberal MLAs who got their start as mayors, councillors, and regional representatives.

Fully 15 were newcomers to the provincial arena, who took a chance on joining the Clark-led Liberal team at a time when she was given little chance of winning the election. Nor can it have escaped the notice of anyone in the room that one of the new recruits is now the province’s new minister for local government relations, former Quesnel city councillor Coralee Oakes.

There was another what-a-difference-a-year-makes moment when Clark got to the big-ticket announcement of the day, a pledge to move forward on replacing the Massey tunnel with a high-level bridge.

She’d floated the notion in last year’s UBCM speech, drawing responses that ranged from bemusement to outright scorn.

Totally not funded. Crass vote-buying. Not a priority. Money would be better spent on transit. Plus there was no getting away from the spectacle of a premier on the ropes promising a 10-year-planning process when she was not expected to survive beyond 10 months.

But against all expectations, she was back with a reminder that if others didn’t take her election platform seriously, she had: “Today, I’m pleased to announce that starting in 2017, we’ll be building a new bridge to replace the George Massey Tunnel.”

Yes, the 10-year time frame had now been telescoped to one more suited to the date for the next provincial election. “If we can get it started more quickly than that, I’d be really happy,” she told reporters afterward.

Budget? She referenced the $3-billion tab for the Port Mann project and guessed “the cost of the whole project could be in that neighbourhood.” Tolls? “I don’t know the answer to that yet.” (My guess: inevitably.) Rapid transit? Not right away, but the crossing will allow for it at a future date.

The replacement for the tunnel is still not at the top of the list for Metro Vancouver leaders concerned about the Pattullo, a SkyTrain service to UBC, or that infernal referendum on new taxation sources for TransLink. But this is her priority, and she means to be taken seriously.

Local government leaders who attended her followup press conference heard her rapid-fire dismissals on some issues raised at their convention. Reopen Riverview as a centre of excellence for the mentally ill? “We’re not considering that.” Bring back photo radar in school zones? “We’re not going backward on photo radar.”

But she offered a telling signal when asked about the UBCM’s call for a new financing formula that would lighten local government’s dependence on the rigidities of the property tax in favour of growth-driven sources of revenue.

The proposal was the most substantial issue to be aired at the convention and endorsed unanimously. Clark hadn’t acknowledged it in her speech, but now she did.

“The part of the proposal that I was really interested in was the idea that local governments should get a piece of economic growth because it is important that if we want local governments to be partners in growing our economy that they have some incentive to do that,” Clark told reporters.

“I’ve agreed to sit down and work with them on how we can ensure that there are better incentives for local governments to grow their own local economies because we all have to do this together if we want to create jobs in B.C., “ she continued. “We need to make sure that municipalities that are really working hard to create jobs and create economic growth — I think they should be rewarded for that.”

A significant bit of messaging there, and not just for the municipalities willing to work more closely with the provincial government on economic growth and job creation in exchange for a piece of the action in terms of revenues.

Local governments are also placed on notice that if they put too many obstacles in the way of growth, they’ll be shortchanged and bypassed as surely as the folks who’ve underestimated Christy Clark in the past.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Share

Vaughn Palmer: With bridge pledge, hinterland premier serves notice to all who underestimate her

Video

Sports Highlights

Best of Postmedia

'People suffer out here and they keep going and that never gets easier to watch,' says nurse Margaux Pontoreau-Bazinet, who decamps to where she's needed most on the streets, operating out of a knapsack stuffed with medical equipment

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.